Package adaptive fiber roving dispenser



1967 F. w. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,305,150

PACKAGE ADAPTIVE FIBER ROVING DISPENSER Filed D80. 11, 1964 COMPRESSOR FIG.I

M 7% 5U E M W T N M E AE V CL W W M FM 0 2 United States Patent 3,305,150 PACKAGE ADAPTIVE FIBER ROVING DISPENSER Frank W. Campbell and Dale A. Lehr, Dallas, Tex., assiguors to The Archilithic Co., a corporation of Texas Filed Dec. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 417,669

2 Claims. (Cl. 226-97) This invention relates to dispensing fiber rovings and more particularly to a pressurized dispensing unit which includes a protective shipping container for a spool of fiber rovings.

In Patent 3,111,270 a method and system are disclosed for dispensing fiber glass rovings in which a spool of rovings is placed in the bottom of a pressurized container. The roving is then withdrawn from the center of the spool and passed upwardly over a resilient guide and thence out of the pressurized container under control of forces produced thereon by the fiow of air passing through the container.

It has been found that spools of fibers, such as fiber glass and the like, often are damaged on the bottom and in the outer layers of the spool. One or more of the strands in the roving may be severed causing the dispensing system to become fouled. Work stoppage as well as loss of fiber material results. The present invention relates to a system which avoids the necessity for handling of the spool separate and apart from the shipping container and maintains the protection for the spool of fibers from the time of its initial packaging until the end of the roving is withdrawn from the spool.

More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, a pressurized container is provided which in part comprises the shipping container for a spool of fiber rovings. The container has a cylindrical body with a closed bottom and an open circular mouth. An upfacing tray receives the bottom of the container and provides radial as well as axial support. Upwardly extending arms are secured to the tray. A cylinder is provided with a closed top, an open bottom, and with a flange for telescopically engaging the mouth of the container. Clamping means are provided for forcing the cylinder onto the mouth of the container in a sealed relationship. Means are provided for introducing compressed air into the cylinder near its top. A resilient guide extends to the axis of the cylinder adjacent to its top for support of the roving. A flow line extends from adjacent the top of the cylinder opposite the air input for entrainment of rovings from the spool after passing over the resilient guide. "Preferably the container is a pressure-resistant fiberboard shipping container.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further objects and advantages thereof, reference may now be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention taken along the vertical axis of the cylindrical structure;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the unit of FIGURE 1 illustrating a clamping mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view and FIGURE 4 illustrates a modification of the invention.

The present invention provides 'for receiving and dispensing fiber rovings from a spool which is initially packaged and shipped in a container 11. In the form illustrated, the container 11 is a short cylinder and is a pressure-resistant container having a mouth 12 adapted to engage and to be sealed with respect to a pressurizing and dispensing fixture 13.

The container 11 has a bottom plate 14 which is unitary of the clamping system;

I of the arms 22 and 23.

with the cylindrical walls. Preferably, the container will be of the type manufactured and sold by Continental Can Company and identified as APAK Container, which is a fiber drum, Catalog No. A359-4XOW. Such containers, of size to receive conventional spools of glass rovings, are tested as to have a side wall bursting pressure of 600 p.s.i. when subjected to a conventional paper industry testing procedure.

In accordance with the present invention, the fixture 13 is cylindrical in form and has a downwardly depending lip 15 which telescopes over the upper end of the container 11. A shoulder 16 is provided with a gasket 17 to engage the mouth 12 of container 11 in an airtight relationship. The band 15 provides radial support for the mouth portion of the container 11.

The container 11 is supported on a tray 18 which has upstanding sides 19 into which the bottom of the contain-er 11 nests. Wings 20 and 21, extending radially from the bottom of the tray 18, serve to anchor upright arms 22 and 23. The arms serve to provide a linkage between the tray 18 and a clamping bar 24 which engages the lid 25 on the fixture 13. The clamping bar 24 is in the form of a cam so that the rotation of the bar by means of a handle 26 will force the lid 25 onto the cylindrical fixture 13, which in turn is forced downward onto the container ll.

The lid 25 has a handle 27 in the form of a loop through which the clamping bar 24 passes. Similarly, the fixture 13 has side handles 28 and 29 for ease in manipulating the fixture 13. The arms 22 and 23 are provided with transverse slots such as the slot 30 so that the fixture 13 may be elevated above the top of the container 11 and supported, while a spent container is removed and a new container filled with a fresh spool of roving is loaded into the dispenser.

The bar 24 extends through holes in the upper ends The handle 26 operates in a slot 31 in a cylindrical extension 32 on arm 22. When the handle 26 is rotated upward to a vertical position, the force of the cam bar 24 is relieved from the lid 25.

. The bar 24 may then be removed by sliding the same axially so that the lid 25 can be removed, the fixture 13 may be raised and the container 11 replaced.

Adjacent to the top of the fixture 13 is an entry port 33 which is adapted to be connected to a flow line 34 i which extends to a compressor 35. A deflector 36 enshrouds the entry port 33 so that infiowing air is directed upwardly towards the lid 25 and will not impinge the roving.

Diametrically opposite the entry port 33 is an exit port 37 which is adapted to be coupled to a dispensing line 38. The dispensing line 38 may then extend to a valve and nozzle of the type illustrated and described in the aforementioned Patent 3,111,270.

A resilient support 39 is anchored to the deflector 36 and extends to the axis of the fixture 13. In the form illustrated, the support 39 is a single loop of spring stock, and is of relatively small diameter wire size. The fiber roving 40 from the spool 10 is threaded upward through the support 39 and then through the exit port 37 and the dispensing line 38. A hood 41 is mounted on the side of the fixture 13 below port 37 and serves to protect a pressure gauge 42.

In operation, the lid (not shown) of the container 11, which is employed in shipping, is removed. The container 11 is then fitted into the tray 18. The fixture 13 is lowered onto the mouth 12 of the container 11. The roving 40 from the center of the spool 10 is threaded over the resilient support 39 and through the dispensing line 38 to a suitable control valve and nozzle 43. The lid 25 is then placed on fixture 13. The clamping bar 24 is inserted and the handle 26 is rotated to clamp the lid 25 onto the fixture 13 and to force the fixture 13 downward onto the container 11. Thereafter, air pressure is applied to the system by way of the flow line 34. When pressure is applied, opening of the dispensing valve 43 in the line 38 will cause the fiber rovings to be entrained in the flow of air. The roving will be drawn from the container and sprayed from the nozzle at valve 43.

Fiber dispensing operations may be carried out in accordance with the method described in Patent 3,111,270. The fibers, entrained in the air flow, will be dispersed in a substantially random pattern by the turbulence of the airstream at the exit of the nozzle adjacent to the valve 43. By reason of the protective container used both in shipping and in dispensing, handling of the spool of fiber roving is eliminated so that the spool will be undamaged and the entire volume of the spool may be dispensed, avoiding the loss which might otherwise accrue through damage to the spool in handling.

While a kraft paper container 11 has been described as preferred, it would be understood that metal or plastic containers of requisite strength may be employed for the packaging and dispensing operations herein described. However, fabrication of metal containers which can compete in cost with paper containers generally involves a longitudinal seam along the container wall which is subject to rupture. In contrast, paper or plastic containers may be built up in the form of a thin walled cylinder of continuous sheet material having excellent band strength characteristics. Such containers may be provided in the thicknesses necessary to operate at pressures found optimum for the dispensing of fibers. For dispensing glass fiber rovings, for example, having 30 to 200 strands, pressures of about 25-30 lbs. per square inch are employed. For dispensing sisal fiber 'rovings, pressures of the order of 40-50 lbs. per square inch or more would be employed. Preferably the inner surface of a paper drum will be coated with a suitable sealer such as a wax or other material so that air will not leak through the walls thereof.

Where higher pressures are to be employed, or where unusually stringent safety factors are imposed, a sleeve such as sleeve 50, FIGURE 4, will be employed. Sleeve 50 is a cylindrical band which will slip over drum 11. The bottom of the sleeve 50 will rest on the upper face of the plate 18. The top of the sleeve 50' will extend into the lip 15 of the member 13. However, the gasket 16 will be sealed against the top of the drum so that the air pressure is applied to the inside of the drum 11. Any expansion of drum 11 will be opposed by the sleeve 50 so that higher pressures may be employed for handling fibers not so readily moved as glass fiber rovings. Sisal fibers, for example, would require twice or three times as much pressure (or air flow) for movement thereof as glass fibers.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, there is provided a rigid shipping container which includes a spool of fiber rovings. The container is a cylindrical body with a closed bottom and an open circular mouth. A tray receives the bottom of the container and provides radial support therefor. Upwardly extending structures 4. secured to the tray provide for clamping a cylindrical closure member onto the mouth of the container. The closure member is a cylinder having an open bottom with a flange for telescopically engaging the mouth of the container and has a closed top. A coupling structure is provided for introducing compressed air into the closure member near the top thereof. A resilient roving guide.

extends to the axis of the closure member adjacent to the top. A flow line structure is connected to the cylinder adjacent to the top opposite the coupling means for entraining rovings in the airstream passing through the closure means after the rovings pass from the spool'over the resilient guide.

Having described the invention in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that further modifications may now suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover such modifications as fall within the. scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dispensing system for fiber rovings, bination which comprises:

(a) a rigid fiberboard shipping container for a spool of said rovings having a cylindrical body with a closed bottom and an open circular mouth,

(b) an upfacing tray having a short vertical sideband thereon circumferentially to engage the bottom of said container for lateral support thereof,

(c) an elongated cylinder having an open bottom with a flange for telescopically engaging said mouth of said container,

(d) a top closure means for said cylinder,

(e) clamping means including a pair of arms extending upwardly from said tray and an eccentric bar extending between said arms across the top of said top closure for engaging said top closure upon rotation of said bar to force said top closure onto said cylinder, said cylinder onto the mouth of said container in a sealed relationship, and said container into said tray,

(f) coupling means for introducing compressed air into said cylinder near the top thereof,

(g) a resilient guide extending to the axis of said cylinder adjacent to said top, and

(h) a flow line connection adjacent the top of said cylinder opposite said coupling means for entrain ment of rovings from said spool after passing over said resilient guide.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said shipping container is a fiberboard cylinder.

the com- References Cited'by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 697,724 4/1902 Johnson 248-l54 X 2,799,440 7/1957 Frederich et al. 2-2923 3,107,057 10/ 1963 Hanusch 239336 3,111,270 11/1963 Winn 239-325 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A DISPENSING SYSTEM FOR FIBER ROVINGS, THE COMBINATION WHICH COMPRISES: (A) A RIGID FIBERBOARD SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR A SPOOL OF SAID ROVINGS HAVING A CYLINDRICAL BODY WITH A CLOSED BOTTOM AND AN OPEN CIRCULAR MOUTH, (B) AN UPFACING TRAY HAVING A SHORT VERTICAL SIDEBAND THEREON CIRCUMFERENTIALLY TO ENGAGE THE BOTTOM OF SAID CONTAINER FOR LATERAL SUPPORT THEREOF, (C) AN ELONGATED CYLINDER HAVING AN OPEN BOTTOM WITH A FLANGE FOR TELESCOPICALLY ENGAGING SAID MOUTH OF SAID CONTAINER, (D) A TOP CLOSURE MEANS FOR SAID CYLINDER, (E) CLAMPING MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF ARMS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID TRAY AND AN ECCENTRIC BAR EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID ARMS ACROSS THE TOP OF SAID TOP CLOSURE FOR ENGAGING SAID TOP CLOSURE UPON ROTATION OF SAID BAR TO FORCE SAID TOP CLOSURE ONTO SAID CYLINDER, SAID CYLINDER ONTO THE MOUTH OF SAID CONTAINER IN A SEALED RELATIONSHIP, AND SAID CONTAINER INTO SAID TRAY, (F) COUPLING MEANS FOR INTRODUCING COMPRESSED AIR INTO SAID CYLINDER NEAR THE TOP THEREOF, (G) A RESILIENT GUIDE EXTENDING TO THE AXIS OF SAID CYLINDER ADJACENT TO SAID TOP, AND (H) A FLOW LINE CONNECTION ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID CYLINDER OPPOSITE SAID COUPLING MEANS FOR ENTRAINMENT OF ROVINGS FROM SAID SPOOL AFTER PASSING OVER SAID RESILIENT GUIDE. 